Let’s Get Digital: 18th September

Reading time: 2 minutes

Facebook Tests In-app Shopping

What can’t Facebook do? Following the release of Facebook Dating in the US last week, and months of talk about Facebook’s own cryptocurrency, The Social Network is now testing shopping ads.

These new in-app shopping ads will let users make purchases without leaving Facebook. Currently, ads direct users to outside websites to make their purchases.

Users who would like to use this option would need to have a payment option attached to their payment account.

For advertisers, this new option could streamline the way they advertise. Instead of creating ads for a few products, an advertiser could upload their entire product catalogue. Facebook’s algorithms would then decide which product to show to which user, delivering a personalised experience.

A similar ad type is planned for Facebook-owned Instagram.

The ads are being tested by a small subset of advertisers, and if successful will be rolled out for others. Read more @SocialMediaToday

Two Very Different Brands Get Vocal

Voice technology has moved beyond Siri and Alexa and into non-traditional spaces. A variety of businesses are looking to utilise voice technology to solve ongoing issues, from fast food, to mental health.

McDonald’s recently acquired a voice tech start-up to assist in providing a new drive-thru service. It’s easy to imagine a Siri style drive-through getting orders hilariously wrong, but with the rapid advances in voice technology, it’s expected to result in faster, simpler and more accurate order-taking.

Suicide prevention charity R U OK? Has just rolled out voice technology to help users ask loved ones important questions about their mental health. People can tell their Google Assistant ‘Hey Google, talk to RUOK Mate’, to check in with a friend. If the person replies ‘No’, the tool provides suggestions for keeping the conversation going.

As voice technology advances, it’s predicted that many more businesses will begin to use it in unique ways. Read more @TheDrum

Starbucks Opens Pickup Only Store

Do you order your coffee ahead of time, using an app? It’s definitely catching on. So much so, in fact, that Starbucks is launching its first ‘pickup only’ store in New York.

Customers will order and pay in advance using their phones, and then pick up their coffee without the wait.

While this service exists in many traditional cafes, this is Starbucks’ first American pickup only store.

Currently at many cafes, customers who order ahead still end up waiting with those who prefer the regular ordering approach.

Starbucks appear to be looking to cash in on busy people who don’t want the option of sitting in, or a chat with the barista – just coffee, ASAP. It successfully operates similar stores in China.

As coffee ordering apps grow in popularity, we may begin to see pickup only cafes hitting Australian streets soon. Read more @MobileMarketer

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